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“In Bedford, New York, in 2008, a rental car driver fixated on his GPS unit barely escaped being hit by a train. Other people have driven into lakes and oceans. Countless truckers attending to GPS while ignoring signage have smashed into overpasses or become wedged beneath them — in 2009, the New York State Department of Transportation blamed GPS as a factor in more than 80 percent of such incidents.” These are of course extreme examples, and I’m guessing you’ve never driven into an ocean (for me, the sand is always an indicator that I’ve probably taken a wrong turn). But some researchers think an over-reliance on GPS could be turning us into navigational idiots; and that we could be risking a lot by not properly exercising our brains by finding our way in the world. From David Dobbs in MoJo: Are GPS Apps Messing With Our Brains?
+ Speaking of tech that could be having a negative impact, in a NYT article that, ironically, went viral, Cal Newport makes the argument that you should quit social media. “Social media use is decidedly not rare or valuable. Any 16-year-old with a smartphone can invent a hashtag or repost a viral article. The idea that if you engage in enough of this low-value activity, it will somehow add up to something of high value in your career is the same dubious alchemy that forms the core of most snake oil and flimflam in business.” (That said, snake oil is selling pretty well these days…)
